Before We Kiss: Storm for a Jedi
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: I wanted to give myself a challenge: could you make a solid case for a FinnRey romance without changing a single thing in Sequel Trilogy canon? Working off that premise, I wrote this. The final two chapters will take place after the movies, so canon is expanded a little bit. I hope this diehard Reylo has made a convincing case for the other side. Please, read, Review and enjoy!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

A crisp breeze rolled across the tundra world, somewhere in the Mid-Rim. The night was still, the temperature dropping rapidly. Shrugging his parka tighter around himself, Finn paid it no mind. It was nerves that were chilling his bones far more than the winter wind. Not for the first time, he regretted not settling his little family somewhere warmer, instead of an out-of-the-way, lightly frosted planet. Besides... she much preferred warmer climes...

Finn glanced up into the night sky. The horizon was full of stars. If he squinted, he could make out the glowing red dot that was neighboring Malastare in the distance, probably five, six lightyears from here. No more than ten parsecs by freighter - the Falcon could probably make the trip in that time, maybe even less.

A prolonged scream coming from the mossy, domed hut behind him made Finn's blood run cold all over again. Glancing through his peripheral vision for the briefest instant, he watched the droid standing guard outside the fire-glowed entrance turn back towards the flap made of animal skin. In that same instant, Finn used his Jedi reflexes to attempt to speedily circumvent the annoying robot and burst back into the hut.

ZAAP!

Finn growled through the gritting of his teeth as the blue sparks electrocuted his skin from a taser built into the droid's arm. No kriffing fair. The bucket of bolts may be a medical professional, a doctor, but Finn didn't much care for its directives. Not when chief of these was that he must remain separated from the woman he loved, for her safety... and for his.

"I'm sorry, sir," the medical droid conveyed apologetically. His tone was even more annoying and insufferable than C-3PO's. "We must ensure a safe delivery. When the little one is safe, you may go in and see it and its mother. It is best if you wait out here."

The next wails of pain seemed to back up the droid's point, followed by pronounced cursing. Then came the bellowing threats: "HOLY FORCE, FINN, YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS - AHHHH! GODS!"

Finn winced, tears stringing at his eyes sharply. He hated nothing more than to see or hear her in any pain, and he hated deeply whenever she was angry with him. If he could take her agony away, he would gladly do it, without hesitation. His frustration translated in that moment towards rage, and Finn let it envelop him like a hot blanket, despite the back of his mind replaying all the warnings she had given him, about the dark side when used too much. Finn elected to employ Sith tendencies productively and in moderation - as he now did when he tried to tackle the droid and turn it into scrap metal.

This tactic worked about as well as Jedi reflexing his way past the gatekeeper. The medical droid merely zapped Finn again, knocking the dark-skinned man flat on his back. Finn yelped this time, the blue sparks that were licking up his arm now taking him back to an exciting, more wild time...


	2. Chapter 1: Two Years Earlier

**Chapter 1: Two Years Earlier**

Finn jerked back into consciousness sharply, his range of motion almost immediately stilted by something holding him down. Shifting his eyes, he saw the seatbelt around his middle. He was still strapped in his chair onboard the TIE...

Except where was the TIE? The gathering of his bearings told Finn that he was lying flat on his back in open air, the glare of the sun having nearly blinded him from looking directly at it, when he snapped awake.

The simple seat was separated from anything at all, in fact, as - unclipping the buckle free - Finn rolled easily onto open sand, landing on his stomach.

That final blast... it had taken out a wing... but had it also caused the entire TIE to break apart, ejecting Finn out into space like a carnival ride gone haywire, only for him to pulled into Jakku's atmosphere?

Breathing hard, panting, Finn struggled to his feet. His white-plated armor was heavy, weighed him down, and made him feel like he was baking within an oven, in this heat.

There was nothing. No landmarks as far as the eye could see.

Glancing to his left, he spotted what appeared to be a slice of wing from the TIE fighter about ten steps off; it must have fallen with him in his little ejector seat. That seat had saved his life, probably in a one-and-a-billionth chance, but Finn did not dwell on this for long.

He glanced to his right, and his heart dropped when he saw a grey plume of smoke rising in the slight distance. It was coming from just over the next dune, and he ran for it as fast as his armor would allow, his brow weeping with sweat in protest.

Finn crested over the hill. And there it was, all right. Almost all of the rest of the TIE fighter, in a debris field about a quarter of a mile wide.

"POE! POE!" Finn yelled as he made the final push to the wreckage.

The front of the ship was still in flames slightly, but that didn't stop Finn from diving for the circular window and peering desperately through the grimy panes. No answer came from within, and his hand jerked back from the boiling metal, bringing a swath of fabric with it.

Poe's jacket... all he could find of his newfound friend was his jacket... Finn clutched it in his fist, continuing to call Poe Dameron's name.

Suddenly, there was a rumble from the earth, followed by a screech of metal, as Finn felt the sand shifting under his feet. Staggering back, he moved clear of the wreckage, only able to watch helplessly as the sandy earth dragged the ship down into its depths with open arms.

"POE!" Pockets of dust sprang up as the TIE submerged, bits of it crushed as it was swallowed whole. Finn stared, gaping, and he fought the urge to cry - something he hadn't done in a long time. If Poe had still been trapped in there, he could only hope, for mercy's sake, that the pilot had been extinguished long before drowning in a quicksand sinkhole. Death... too much death...

KABOOM! There was a final mighty explosion as a giant plume of dust exulted into the air, signaling the final crushing of the TIE fighter down below. Finn jumped, yelping, his fist tightening around the jacket.

He walked for what seemed like hours after that, shedding plates and bits and pieces of his white armor as he went, until he was in nothing but a black shirt. Even then, the choice of undershirt did nothing to help, as the black fabric greedily absorbed the heat from the Jakku sun's unrelenting rays. More than once, he thought about donning Poe's jacket, but the brutal perspiration made him refrain. The coat did help shade his head, however, and guarded him against the wind as he hoisted it above his head long past the muscles in his arms growing tired. He was wandering aimlessly, with absolutely no sense of direction and nothing to point his way.

He wandered past what looked like a vaporator, planted like a buoy in this sea of sand - his only landmark aside from the TIE wreckage for miles. The sun raced across the sky into afternoon, and still Finn walked, over dune after endless dune. Finally, cresting over a particular imposing dune, Finn spotted what looked like a civilization - a village - in the windswept valley below. An outpost!

Finn couldn't get down to the place fast enough, wandering into the midst of a market. He was wearing the jacket now, not caring how much more it would make him sweat. He was stumbling about, his parched throat barely able to form the word, "Water!" Most of the creatures inhabiting this dive brushed him off, and he started to grow desperate.

Leaning against a post, Finn was ready to sink into the sands and give in when, presently, he heard what sounded like a splash. Whirling about, he spied a happabore slurping from a trough, his girth taking up nearly half the circumference of the pool.

It was likely grey, dirty water, but at that point, Finn didn't very much care. He sprinted for the trough, supping two gulps greedily from his palms. Dehydrated through he was, he regretted it instantly, fighting to swallow it down. Rationalizing that it was an acquired taste, he immediately dove back in and continued to drink his fill.

The happabore's snout finally nudged Finn away, and he fell back, only to hear the sounds of cries and scuffling from a short ways away. Glancing to his right, he spotted a young girl - about his age - trying to fight back against two hooded bullies.

His Stormtrooper conditioning compelling him to help, Finn got to his feet and jogged towards the scuffle. "HEY!" He was almost there when -

Wielding a staff, the girl kicked one of the dark bullies away, only for the other to grab her from behind. Kicking and flailing, she twisted out of the grasp, turned and beat her last assailant twice over the head until he collapsed.

Seeing the display, Finn pulled up short, staring in amazement. A lowly BLOOP could be heard, and the girl turned back to a little sphere shrouded by a rucksack. She set him free, and Finn almost sheepishly glanced about, once again rudderless. Well. _She_ certainly didn't need any help.

Glancing back to the girl, Finn found himself peering closer at the orange-and-white sphere. A droid... hadn't Poe Dameron insisted on going back to Jakku over a droid...? Was it... a BB unit...? Finn only had a cursory knowledge of droids, their makes and models, but there seemed to be something special about this one...

And also his human companion, who Finn now noticed was glancing between the droid and... _him_. She had spotted him, even as he drew closer. The droid was still chittering.

"Him?" the girl rose to her feet, staring Finn down. Her face twisting into a snarl, she charged. It wasn't until she was nearly on top of him that Finn finally decided to almost comically make a hasty exodus, weaving through the market. He took a zigzag pattern, and he was almost certain that he had lost her when -

THWACK! Her staff slapped across his face, stinging a path down to his shoulder, and he spilled backward into the sand. The girl pointed the end of her staff nearly into his nose, her deep, brown eyes accusatory and feral.

"What's your hurry, _thief_?" Her voice, accented, was almost dripping with poison.

Finn squinted, nursing his injured shoulder.

"What? Thief?"

The little balled droid rolled up beside him, and proceeded to whip out a prickly appendage from its body and shock him without further ado.

"OW!" Finn hollowed. "Hey! What?"

"The jacket! This droid says you _stole_ it!" the girl made clear, hard-edged.

Finn glared at her. "I've had a pretty messed up day, all right, so I'd _appreciate_ it if you'd stop accusing me of - YOW!" The droid precociously tazed him again. "Stop it!"

"Where'd you get it?" the girl demanded. "It belongs to his master!"

And then it all fell into place. This droid... the jacket... Poe Dameron...

Finn let his head fall back with a sigh. "It belonged to Poe Dameron - that was his name, right?"

The droid's cylindrical head swiveled between the girl and Finn.

"He was captured, by the First Order. I helped him escape, but our ship crashed." He glanced back to the droid, his eyes growing sad. "Poe didn't make it." The droid's head drooped. "I tried to help him, I'm sorry." The little ball could not be comforted, sadly rolling away.

In the midst of all this, the girl's eyes had softened. Her glare had eased into staring at Finn warily, and for the first time, he got a good look at her.

She was quite striking, even pretty, her chestnut tresses pulled up into three buns. Her eyes were soothing pools of brown. Her skin was unblemished alabaster, a high forehead and full rosy lips adding to her beauty.

Lips that now moved to form words, and once she got the aggressive timbre out of her voice, her dulcet tone was actually quite lovely - so lovely that Finn barely took in her curious question:

"So you're with the Resistance?"

Finn stared at her stupidly for a second, registering how her eyes seemed fixated on him with an expression resembling hope. And something else - a deep, almost visceral recognition. _I know you. I know you. I don't know who you are, but I still know __you__._

"Obviously." And Finn stood, straightening himself so that he was keenly conscious of his posture. He even puffed out his chest a little, trying to appear more impressive even as he lied through his teeth. "Yes, I am. I'm with the Resistance, yeah. I am with the Resistance." The confident tone he projected fell flat on his own ears, grating on his almost dopey response. In either case, the girl didn't appear to notice.

She was now peering at him with unabashed admiration, her lips turned up into a soft smile. Finn rather liked her smile. It was youthful and pure - a beacon in this harsh wasteland. "I've never met a Resistance fighter before," she almost bubbled. The warmth of her gaze made Finn grow hot in a way that had nothing to do with the elements.

"Oh, this is what we look like." Then, remembering that he said this even as he wore a jacket taken off a dead man, he lamely amended, "Some... some of us look different."

Rey glanced back in the direction of the little droid, her smile reminiscent of the way a mother would take in her child. The excitement poured from her voice. "BB8 says he's on a secret mission. He has to get back to your base!"

Finn huffed. "Apparently he has a map that leads to Luke Skywalker and everyone's after it..."

The girl stilled, glancing back to him with awe in her face. "_Luke Skywalker_?" she whispered the name like a prayer. "I thought he was a _myth_!"

BB8 suddenly rolled into view, chittering frantically. Finn had no clue what he was saying, but thankfully, the girl seemed to be able to translate him.

"What?" She ran out from under the shade of the market stall and Finn followed her. About a hundred yards away, two Stormtroopers were talking to two black figures. The black figures looked like the same bullies the girl had beaten up.

And they were now pointing the Stormtroopers in their direction.

The troopers charged, raising their blasters. The panic rose in Finn's chest, and almost by instinct, he seized the girl's hand.

"What are you doing?" she gawked.

"Come on!" And Finn continued to drag her along by the hand, the girl keeping pace with his long strides on her spindly legs. "Come on, BB8!"

Red blaster fire pinged around their heads.

"Let go of me!" the girl yelped.

"Come on! We've gotta move..."

"I know how to run without you holding my hand..." she growled through gritted teeth, yanking out of his grasp. "BB8, stay close!" she cast over her shoulder. "This way!"

The pair ducked into an empty stall, the girl breathing hard.

"They're shooting at _both_ of us..."

"Yeah, they saw you with me," Finn rambled. "You're marked."

"Well, _thanks_ for that," the girl huffed.

"Hey: I'm not the one who chased you down with a stick!" He pawed around the tabletops. "Doesn't _anyone_ have glasses around here?!"

The girl was now kneeling beside BB8 with loving concern. "Are you OK?"

His answering BLOOP was now shushed by Finn, who raced close, the little group's breathing stilling as they heard a prolonged whine from above. Finn knew that whine... and knew what it meant.

"Stop. Taking. my hand!" the girl growled. Finn just dragged her out of the stall anyway and bolted for a place to jump clear.

And in the nick of time, too, for just then, a TIE swooped in overhead and with several shots of green lasers, exploded the stall they had just been in. The blast flung the pair forward face-first into the sand.

Rey was the first to recover, her eyes tracking with bewilderment as the two TIEs banked to come back around. Glancing behind her, she spotted Finn lying flat on his back in the sand.

All at once, an inexplicable terror, deeper than any she had ever felt before, came over her heart and she frantically crawled over to him. "Hey..." She shook him, and the fear transformed into a powerful wave of relief as he slowly sat up. Finn's eyes snapped immediately to hers, his concern apparent.

"Are you OK?"

She studied him, almost puzzled. While extraneous, she had to admit - his concern for her was also chivalrous and kind of sweet. In any event, no one had ever made it their business to ask after her wellbeing.

"Yeah."

This time, it was she who held out her hand, and he grasped it, allowing her to pull him to his feet. "Follow me."

Fiery explosions and giant clouds of dust roared behind and around them as the two now fled from the outpost, making a break for some parked ships across the sands.

"We can't outrun them!" Finn wailed.

"We might - in that quad jumper!" she yelled.

"Hey - we need a pilot!"

"We've _got_ one!"

Another explosion landed too close for comfort and Finn jerked sharply. "_You_?" he practically squeaked. Spying a freighter off to their right, he pointed. "What about that ship?"

The girl followed his gaze, and her expression collapsed in disdain. "That one's _garbage_!"

They were maybe 10 yards from the quad jumper when the TIEs thoughtfully decided to blow it up sky high, cutting them off. The girl shielded her eyes against the explosion.

"The garbage will do!" she squeaked, and she and Finn banked right, windmilling desperately towards the YT Coreillian freighter.

They reached the gangplank - already lowered - just ahead of another dust flare-up behind them, and raced aboard, BB8 rolling after them at a pace that would have looked almost leisurely if not for his frantic beeping.

"Gunner position's down there!" the girl burst into the hold, pointing to her left as she sprinted down the corridor at her right towards the cockpit. Finn had little choice but to follow her lead and clamber down a ladder into a turret gunner's port.

"You ever fly this thing?" he bellowed as he descended.

"No! This ship hasn't flown in _years_!" her voice echoed back to him.

Finn's heart sank. They were going to die. Two friends made twice in one day, only to be thrown into a life-or-death situation with them. No lucky ejector seat was going to help him survive this time. Yup. They were going to die.

Finn climbed into the gunner's seat. He flicked a switch and the seat actually swiveled sharply enough to startle him. The seat was an extension of the turret guns outside.

"I can do this... I can do this..."

Above him, the girl unknowingly echoed him. "I can do this... I can do this..."

The blue thrusters glowed as the ship roared to life, lifting off too tentatively after being grounded for so many years. A tarp slipped off the hood as it rose, then dipped to grind its stakes along the earth before jolting into a power converter below as the girl banked the ship slightly left. The power of the collision nearly jolted both young people out of their seats and the girl yelped.

The freighter then tilted on its side, dragging along the sand once more before finally deciding to lift off for good, destroying the entrance to Niima Outpost in the process. The girl was jostled again, as the _Millennium Falcon_ finally took to the skies.

It blasted for the atmosphere. "Hey, hey, stay low, stay low!" Finn called up, sliding a headset over his ears.

"What?"

"Stay low! It confuses their tracking!" Finn gripped the handles of the turret guns tightly and willed himself to focus.

"BB8! Hold on!" The girl called out. "I'm going low!"

The _Falcon_ plummeted into a dizzying dive, swooping tight over the dunes, and making a charge run at and past the firing TIEs. They screamed into a sharp turn, following the freighter and landing a hit that bounced Finn in his seat.

"What are you _doing_ back there?" the girl shrieked from above. Her ire at his impotence doused Finn like a cold bath and he scrambled to be of some use. They had only just met, but already he knew he never wanted to feel her displeasure, the sensation roiling his stomach. "Are you ever gonna _fire back_?"

"I'm working on it! Are the shield's up?"

"Not so easy without a co-pilot!" her voice sounded strained.

"Try sitting in _this_ thing," Finn mumbled.

They careened through the desert, the shields coming up at last and allowing Finn to lock in on the TIE's signal. Their green lasers matched his red, and the _Falcon_ narrowly dodged another barrage.

"We need cover!" he called.

"We're about to get some!" the girl assured. "I hope..."

The _Falcon_ shrieked towards a downed Star Destroyer, its exhaust pipes wide and gaping, the size of craters. The girl skidded the ship along the sand slightly through a steep turn and pelted for the ruins. All the while, red and green lasers pinged back and forth between each other as the TIEs refused to be shaken. Right before the anticipated cover, the TIEs got in a lucky hit, and smoke plumed from the roof as some important system gave. Finn cursed.

"Damn it."

The girl feinted, yanking hard to the left and out of a collision with a downed ship wall at the last second, fooling one TIE into crashing, but still tailed by the other.

"Come on," Finn growled. "Come on!" He pulsed out another barrage, and hit the other TIE right in its wing and causing it to flame out.

"Nice job!" he heard the girl praise and his heart fluttered with warmth.

"I'm getting pretty good at this," he breathed, surprised by himself.

A third TIE swooped into view, seizing on the momentary lapse of complacency to fire a wickedly good shot, freezing Finn's turret guns in the downward position. Finn jerked at the controls. No response.

"The cannon's stuck in forward position. I can't move it. You gotta lose 'em!" he reported. The girl took a deep breath, her face hardening in determination.

"Get ready!" she yelled.

"OK. For what?"

They reached the exhaust port at last and zoomed in, Finn scanning out his small window as they submerged into near total darkness. "Are we really doing this?" and he seemed to throw out the question to the galaxy, bemoaning his upended life.

The girl cried out as the passage through the bowels of the Star Destroyer grew tighter and tighter. "Oh no..." she whimpered, willing her brain to remain focused. She peeled out a crevice at their immediate right, emerging back into bright sunshine, the TIE on them like a shadow.

Then she made her move.

Flinging the thrusters forward and then rapidly shutting them off, she sent the Falcon into a backflip, free-falling so that the turret guns could get a clear view...

... and Finn blasted the TIE as soon as its signal was locked. The girl pulled back up immediately, gunning the thrusters back to life. The maneuver had worked perfectly; it was as if she and Finn had spoken with one mind.

"Whoo!" Finn exulted, and the _Falcon_ tore out of Jakku's atmosphere.

On autopilot, Finn and the girl met in the center of the hold, talking over each other.

"Nice shooting..."

"That was some flying..."

"Thanks," the girl blinked.

"How did you do that?"

"I don't know!" she beamed. "I've flown strange ships, but I've never... your long shot was dead-on..."

"That was amazing..."

"That was some blast..."

"You set me up for it!" Finn laughed.

"It was perfect!"

The pair's voices trailed off, BB8 glancing between them at their feet, like a child watching its parents celebrate. The girl turned to him.

"You're OK. He's with the Resistance. He's gonna get you home..." Then, with new resolve, she amended. "We both will."

Only BB8 noticed how Finn glanced away out of guilt at his fake alibi. The girl at last stood, and turned to her new partner. Her face was all at once quite shy.

"I don't know your name," she confessed meekly.

"Finn," he croaked out. "What's yours?"

In that moment, he could have sworn her cheeks turned pink. Her smile was almost imperceptible as she replied, "I'm Rey."

_Rey_, Finn thought. _What a beautiful name. Like... sunlight_.

For a long moment, the pair simply stared at each other, gazing into each other's eyes. Eyes that were warm and filled with the promise of camaraderie and... safety.

Held in the warmth of her eyes as she peered at him, Finn's guilt flared and he stepped close. Now was as good a time as any to tell her the truth; he would die if she thought him a liar. "Rey..."

A cloud of steam suddenly blew up from below, ruining his chance.

"Help me with this!" Rey cried.

"Whoa! What's going on?" Finn asked, as moving a grate, Rey led the way in setting to work doing maintenance on the ship...


	3. Chapter 2: Rathtars Attack

**Chapter 2: Rathtars Attack**

Rey's head popped up amidst the wiring in the bowels of the _Falcon_.

"It's the motivator!" she finally diagnosed the source of the problem, as she reached to unclip some wiring before lifting her head from below. "Get me a Harris wrench; check in there!"

Finn crawled over to a nearby toolbox and began digging through it. He wanted to be as much of a help as he could, he so desperately wanted to be valuable to Rey, to impress her. But, as he poked through power converters and compressors and metal doodads he had no name for, he reminded himself that he was most experienced in sanitation, not engineering. At best, he had known an acquaintance or two assigned to the Engineering Unit in the larger Stormtrooper Corps. He hoped, as he sifted through the toolbox with rapidly dwindling assertiveness, that he could be competent.

"How bad is it?" he attempted to make conversation all the while.

"If we run a leak? Not good."

"They're hunting for us now," Finn warbled. At this point, he was doing little more than rearranging the toolbox. "And we've got to get out of this system!"

"BB8 says the location of the Resistance base is need-to-know." Up came Rey's head again. "If I'm taking you there, I need to know!"

Oh, shit. It was either come clean in the middle of a stressful tech situation, or keep up the charade. Finn kicked himself. He should have known better than to assume there wouldn't be a quiz. Making a split second decision, he decided to stick to his story.

"This?" he flipped her a tool, not even knowing if it was the correct one. It certainly was shaped like a wrench.

As soon as Rey ducked back out of sight, he beckoned BB8 over. He might not be able to come clean to Rey just yet... but he could at least alleviate his conscience and come clean to the droid. Hell, the droid probably knew damn well he was no Resistance hotshot - at least, the thing didn't recognize him.

"You gotta tell us where your base is."

The droid beeped.

"I don't speak that. Ok, between us... I'm not with the Resistance, OK? I'm just trying to get away from the First Order. But you tell us where the base is? I'll get you there first. Deal?"

BB8 appraised him, clearly putting too much time and thought into this. Finn groaned.

"Pilot's driver. Hurry!" Rey was back. Evidently, Finn's selection of a Harris wrench was a lucky guess. Back to the toolbox Finn crawled. "So where's your base?"

"Go on, BB8, tell her," Finn tried to act casual, even if his heart was hammering in his chest. If Rey saw through this, she'd know he was full of shit, and he'd likely lose her trust for good.

A few agonizing moments as the droid looked between the humans in confusion, head swiveling this way and that.

Finn cringed. "_Please_," he almost mouthed.

A series of beeps.

"The _Illeenium_ System?" Rey gawked and Finn exhaled. He had no kriffing idea where the Illeenium System was, but at least his alibi hadn't fallen apart. He would tell Rey his true backstory later, he resolved. He promised.

"Yeah, the Illeenium system, that's the one!" He had an easier time of it identifying that pilot's driver and he tossed it to Rey, hoping he didn't sound like an idiot. "Get us there as fast as you can!" In the brief moment that Rey was out of sight, he sent a thumbs-up to BB8, and the droid copied him with a tiny flamethrower.

"I'll torpedo from Niima Terminal. I need the bonding tape, hurry!"

"What about you?" Finn frowned.

"I've got to get back to Jakku," she furrowed her brows at him as if it wasn't obvious.

"Back to Jakk-!" Finn nearly exploded. "Why does everyone want to go back to Jakku?"

"It's not that one," Rey talked over him, referring to the bonding tape in his hand. Finn scoured aimlessly, grabbing for anything that resembled tape, even with Rey pointing way farther to his right. "No. No. The one I'm pointing to. No. No. _No_... If we don't patch this up, the propulsion tab will overflow, and flood the ship with poisonous gas!" The squabbling was not unlike a wife admonishing her bumbling husband.

"This?"

"Yes."

He flipped her the bonding tape and she ducked away yet again, Finn crawling over to the grate hole to watch her work. Even with the lessening steam, he got a wonderful view of her rear. It was shapely and curved. Finn had pretty much no experience with girls, but this one was a sight to behold. More than that, she was strong and feisty. He found he liked that in a woman. And thus, he tallied the first item on his list for what he wanted in a lover.

"Hey, Rey... you're a pilot, you can fly anywhere. Why go back?" He started off casual, play it cool, before going towards something more direct. "You got a family? You got a boyfriend?... A cute boyfriend?"

Rey's head poked back out rather abruptly. "None of your business, that's why," she hissed. But her cheeks were quite suddenly rosy pink - a fact that Finn noted right before the electricity went out and the emergency infrared lights kicked in.

The pair scrambled back to the cockpit, and the throwing of a few switches from Rey confirmed their worst fear. "Someone's locked onto us. All controls are overridden."

A noise from above compelled Finn to stand on his seat, throwing out a hand to brace himself against Rey's forehead. She grimaced. "Get off... get off!" She waited. "See anything?"

"Oh no... It's the First Order."

"What do we do? There must be something..."

"You said poisonous gas?"

"I fixed that -"

"Can you un-fix it?"

Her eyes widened, getting his meaning, and they raced back to the hole in the floor. Seizing gas masks, they dropped into the space together this time, and Finn would have found it an almost cozy place - perhaps to snuggle - if they literally weren't hiding for their lives. He went down first.

"Come on BB8..." Rey coaxed as she passed him gingerly down to Finn.

"I've got him." She let go sharply and the droid's dead weight toppled Finn to the floor. He didn't have him. Rey dropped down after them. Rey dragged the grate back into place, then set to work.

"Do you think this will work on the Stormtroopers?"

"Yeah. Their masks filter out smoke, not toxins." As soon as Finn said it, he regretted it, for the funny look that she gave him. If he was Resistance, he shouldn't know so much about troopers. Finn kicked himself. What other useful but suspicious information about Stormtrooper protocol had he let run out of his mouth?

Still, the moment passed, as footsteps now entered the hull.

"Hurry!" Finn kept watch.

"I'm hurrying..."

Finn resealed the grate... only for it to be lifted a few moments later, to reveal a man pointing a blaster, the pair of stowaways jumping and looking almost comical wearing gas masks.

* * *

It was quite a trip, meeting Han Solo. But they weren't out of the woods yet, as creaks and groans from just beyond the ship brought the famed Rebellion general back into action mode.

"Oh no... don't tell me a rathtar's gotten loose..."

"What? Did you just say rathtars?" Finn yelped, he and Rey stumbling after Han. "Hey! You're not hauling rathtars on this freighter, are you?"

It turns out that Han was making a smuggled run of the cuddly creatures. A glance at the scanners... "Oh, great! It's the Guavian death gang. They must have tracked us from Nantoon..."

"What's a rathtar?" Rey asked. Nobody bothered to adequately answer her beyond _big_ and _dangerous_. Han opened a smuggler's hatch. Finn looked down. It looked even less roomy than the _Falcon_'s maintenance hole.

"Get below and stay there until I say so, and don't even think about taking the _Falcon_."

"What about BB8?" Rey asked. Han promised to keep him safe until they were in the clear "... then you can be on your way."

An imprisoned rathtar suddenly slapped on the door behind them, interrupting their conversation.

"What are you going to do?" Rey asked as she descended.

"Same thing I always do: talk my way out of it."

Down in the hatch, Rey whispered to Finn, "Can you see them?"

"No." Finn could barely hear them as they crawled along. Peering up through a vent, Rey noted, "They have blasters."

"A lot of them," Finn agreed.

And it only got worse when a second, rival gang showed up.

"That BB unit," one of the gang leaders piped up with a brogue. "First Order's looking for one just like it... and two fugitives."

Rey and Finn clearly heard that even from down in the hatch as their crawl swayed to a stop. They glanced to each other in horror.

Now they were _definitely_ going to die, Finn decided. He just wished he could think of something sweeter and more comforting to say in their final moments - maybe like how, if they hadn't gotten in this deep, he would have liked for Rey to join him sometime for a cup of bantha ice cream.

For her part, Rey had to admit that Finn was a nice man, adorable in his way. If they had had more time, she would have liked to have known him longer. He would have been a fine companion, on Jakku. Oh, well. She had had a good run while it lasted.

And then Rey got an idea. "If we close the blast doors from that hangar, we can trap both gangs!"

"Closing the blast doors from here?"

"Resetting the fuses should do it."

Unfortunately, she pressed the wrong buttons. Gates opened up with a screech.

"Oh no."

"Oh no what?"

"Wrong fuses."

And then all hell broke loose. Rey had accidentally released the rathtars.

In the confusion, she and Finn frantically crawled along amidst sparks.

"This was a mistake!"

"Huge!" Rey concurred with a squeak. They finally broke out of the smuggler's hatch and raced through the freighter.

"What do they look like?" Rey called out. Rounding a corner, they skidded to a stop, just in time to watch a beast with a gaping maw dismember a screaming gang member.

Finn went white. "They look like that." Rey clapped a hand over her mouth in horror, while Finn grabbed her other hand to drag her away. She didn't even bother to complain about him taking her hand this time. And actually, when she ignored the running-for-their-lives aspect, Rey admitted that she was starting to quite like the feeling of Finn's hand pressed in hers. It was warm, calloused and strong.

"This way!"

"Are you sure?"

Finn didn't answer her as a rathtar tentacle tripped him, and began dragging him back towards a maw of teeth. Rey wheeled around, face contorting with horror.

"_Finn_!" she screamed with pure fear. She chased after him. "Finn!"

"REY!"

She lost him, for one, brief, horrifying moment, in the maze of corridors. But then his screams guided her, and she pelted after the sound.

"REY!"

"Finn!" Her face collapsed in heartbreak. "Finn..."

Luckily, she had made her way back to the scanners, their cameras pinpointing Finn's location. Thinking fast, Rey keystroked a sequence and hovered her hand over a giant button. If she could get the timing right...

Now.

Slamming it down, Rey sealed the blast door, bisecting the rathtar and leaving Finn free, tangled up in only one, twitching tentacle. She found him quickly.

"Finn!"

"They had me! With the door..."

"That was lucky!"

Finn pieced it together instantly, and he gaped at her. _She saved me..._ And for the first time, he seriously considered just grabbing Rey and kissing her - if nothing else, than in gratitude.

But Rey was already running again and he had no choice but to keep up. They finally reconnected with Han and Chewie, and still in the mayhem, they broke back into the hangar bay and made their escape on the _Falcon_...


	4. Chapter 3: Women Always Figure Out The T

**Chapter 3: Women Always Figure Out the Truth**

Han flew his new crew to the lush, green world of Takodana. Touching down at the side of a lake, Rey disembarked to behold what looked like a palace in the near distance. Back on the ship, Finn approached Han as he was making final landing checks.

"Hey, Solo - I'm not sure what we're walking into here, but..."

"Did you just call me _Solo_?" He turned away again.

Finn tried again, flustered. "Sorry, Han. Mr. Solo. You should know: I'm a big deal in the Resistance, which puts a real target on my back. Are there any conspirators here?" No answer was immediately forthcoming. "First Order sympathizers?"

Han faced him sharply, talking turkey to the young man. "Listen, _Big Deal, _you've got another problem: women always figure out the truth. _Always_." And slamming a long gun into Finn's chest, he walked away.

Finn stood there gaping. Was he really that obvious? Not just about his growing attachment to Rey, but also the fact that Han Solo - a master con man - could see right through him and tell he was full of bantha shit?

* * *

The group walked to the palace for help from one Maz Kanata, an old friend of Han's. She was a petite little alien with orange, scaly skin and big goggles around her eyes. Seated in the corner of her little dive bar, Maz postulated how they must fight the First Order.

And that's when Finn's anger compelled him to open his big, fat mouth.

"There is no fight against the First Order - not one we can win!" He could feel Rey's perplexed eyes on him, and he tried not to wilt with shame under her stare. Finn continued to prattle on about how likely they were to be caught. His voice only trailed off when he noticed Maz adjusting her goggles, then literally crawling across the table to him as she examined him.

"If you live long enough, you see the same eyes in different people..." she mused. "I'm looking at the eyes of a man who wants to run."

Oh, Sithspit. She had his number, too. First BB8, then Han, and now her... Finn felt himself start to sweat. Still, with a false sense of bravado, he tried to counter her. "You don't know a thing about me. Where I'm from... what I've seen..." And then he confessed it - almost, but just about. "You don't know the First Order like I do. They'll slaughter us. We all need to run."

Next to him, he could feel Rey's confusion grow. Maz resignedly pointed out two men who could help Finn book passage off world. He jumped at the chance.

"Finn!" He finally willed himself to look Rey in the face, his heart twinging with shame at the deep hurt in her eyes. The betrayal. And something else that she seemed to feel all too well - a keen familiarity with abandonment.

Finn gazed at her sadly, then earnestly. "_Come with me_." He and Rey could get far away from here, to the Outer Rim, and then... and then what? Finn didn't know, but at present it didn't matter. He and Rey could get to safety first, and then... maybe they could build a life together. Start fresh and new, by each other's side, if she'd have him.

Rey gawked at him, turning her face away to hide the heat blooming on her skin, betraying - deep down inside - how tempting his offer really was to her. No one had ever stuck by her for this long before, and now with the prospect of even him leaving, just like everyone else... she wanted to hang onto Finn with both hands.

But... "What about BB8? We're not done yet. We _have_ to get him back to the your base!"

Finn glanced between her and the droid, forlorn.

"I can't," he murmured weakly. Then he shamefully got up and walked towards the far table where those aliens were. He tried to give Han his gun back, but the old man declined.

Anguished, Rey scrambled out of her seat and followed her friend. She couldn't believe Finn would just bolt like this. She wiped fiercely at her eyes, mad at herself for wanting to cry. But all the same... hadn't she meant _something_ to him? "What are you doing?" she demanded when she found him in conversation with two lifeforms.

"Don't leave without me," Finn hissed to the pair, then he followed Rey into a corner of the bar. She turned to face him, wounded but resolute.

"You can't just go!" Rey pleaded. "I won't let you."

And finally, Finn blasted it out. "I'm not who you think I am..."

"Finn, what are you talking about?"

"I'm not Resistance!"

She stared at him. And there it was - the even deeper hurt of realizing she had been lied to. Finn bravely pressed on anyway, despite knowing that any chance he might have had with her was likely gone now.

"I'm not a hero... I'm a Stormtrooper."

If the hurt Rey had shown him was agonizing, the disgust now roiling onto her face was unbearable. Still, Finn plowed ahead, hoping his true story could salvage whatever she might have thought of him.

"Like all of them, I was taken from a family I'll never know, and raised to do one thing. At my first battle, I made a choice. I wasn't gonna kill for them. So I ran... right into you." For a parsec, his eyes flashed with soppy tenderness, his expression easing into something almost lovesick. "And you looked at me like no one ever had."

If his feelings were given away on his face, Rey didn't let on. The beautiful girl's expression slowly began to melt into something at least placid at his tender words, quietly listening.

"I was ashamed of what I was. But I'm _done_ with the First Order. I'm _never_ going back. Rey..." and he stepped closer, reaching for her hand. "Come with me."

She gazed at him, the siren song of his offer stirring her heart. He was offering her a chance beyond her heretofore dreary existence. The chance for a life. Friendship... a family. Perhaps someday, maybe she and Finn could even...

But then BB8 danced in her mind and she held his eyes beseechingly. "Don't go." The tears threatened to fall, but this time, she tamped them down.

But Finn's mind was made up. Voice breaking, he begged: "Take care of yourself. _Please_." He almost got up the nerve to kiss her cheek, but wigged out at the last second.

And with her heartbroken expression in his mind, at his back, Finn trudged sadly away...

* * *

Finn had been searching for her in a blind panic ever since the First Order had attacked, sidewaying his travel plans. The lightsaber in his hand, he paused, gaping in horror as he at last spotted Rey, nestled in the arms of Kylo Ren himself. She was swooned in his embrace, the beast carrying her off like she was his bride.

Finn's heart clenched in anguish, mixed with a potently blind, jealous rage. That creature had no business touching her like that. No, no, no... he was going to take her away!

"NO!" He sprinted for the ship, not caring that it was too far away, hoping that he might be able to claw his way onto the retracting gangplank and fight a path inside. "No... No, no... No! NOOOOO!" Watching helplessly as the First Order ship took off into the sky, Finn flung into the heavens his anguished scream.

"REYYYYYYY!"


	5. Chapter 4: We'll See Each Other Again

**Chapter 4: We'll See Each Other Again**

Finn had to give Starkiller Base this much: it wasn't Jakku.

Quite the opposite, in fact, as he followed Han and Chewie at a jog across the powdery plains. He would gladly trade snow for sand any day. So it was a shame, really, that he had to experience a wintry landscape while still under great emotional distress.

Although any way to get to Rey was fine with him, Finn wasn't sure he would have preferred to embark on a dangerous rescue mission - started by crash-landing the _Falcon_ \- with Han and Chewie. The old smuggler had actually waved him off when Finn had rushed towards him on Takodana in a blind panic, babbling how, "He took her! Did you see that? He took her!"

Making a stop at the Resistance base on D'Qar - in the Illeenium System, as BB8 had said - had not eased Finn's impatience, although meeting Leia Organa had been incredible. When a mission to destabilize the base's shields had come up, Finn had readily volunteered to go, claiming that as a Stormtrooper, he knew where the shields were and how to turn them off.

He didn't know how to turn them off. He barely knew where they were. Honesty - _that_ had lasted about a parsec. Just like that, Lying Finn was back.

He only hoped that he and his comrades could bullshit their way through enough that Han didn't have to know his impotence. Oh, who was Finn kidding? He probably did. He'd figured Finn out quicker than a Sabaac player concealing his hand.

"The flooding tunnel's over that ridge. We'll get in that way," Finn reported as he and his buddies slowed to a stop behind an edifice on the base. He just hoped Han didn't ask how he knew that.

Han didn't ask that. He asked a question far worse. "What was your job when you were based here?"

Fuck it. "Sanitation."

All at once, Han had seized the youngster by the scruff of his collar and slammed him back into the wall.

"_Sanitation_?" Han was practically spitting. "Then how do you know how to disable the shields?"

"I don't," Finn admitted. "I'm just here to get Rey." He vaguely observed that he really should be more critical of his own chronic dishonesty, saying anything he had to in order to be back near Rey, make sure she was safe.

If Finn was expressing internal regret at being so deceitful, Han was livid. "People are _counting_ on us! The galaxy is counting on us!"

"Solo: we'll figure it out. We'll use the Force!"

Han gaped at him. The old smuggler had been on high-stakes missions before, and here - on the biggest gamble of his illustrious career - his one ticket in had rendered an answer equivalent to saying _My Crait ice dog ate my homework_.

"_That's not how the Force works!_" Han hissed with exasperated rage. All that saved Finn from Han wringing his neck was Chewbacca, complaining about he was cold even with a fur coat.

A chance encounter with Finn's former commander luckily led them right to the shields and how to disable them. And it didn't take the trio long to find Rey after that, who by that time had somehow managed to break out of her containment area and was wandering about the base. Unfortunately, Finn and Han nearly got their heads blown off as, rounding a corner, Rey nearly shot them both with a confiscated blaster.

The girl gasped in amazement at their presence, and she was particularly moved to see Finn.

"What happened to you? Did he hurt you?"

"Finn, what are you doing here?"

"I came back for you." Chewie howled. "What did he say?"

She gazed at him. "That it was your idea." Rey could barely keep the overjoyed smile off her face. _You came back for me_, she thought. For the briefest flash, she had the sudden urge to pull Finn close and kiss him. Her cheeks coloring slightly at the thought, she merely tugged him into a long hug instead. "Thank you."

The pair held each other like that for a long moment. Rey came to find... she rather liked being nestled in Finn's arms. He was warm, lean and firm, yet he held her with the gentlest touch Rey had ever felt.

"How did you escape?" Finn murmured low in her ear. His soft voice sent content thrills through Rey's body.

"I can't explain it," she crooned. "And you wouldn't believe it."

They were still locked in a close embrace, not wanting it to end. And Han noticed. "Escape now. Hug later."

Rey broke away, flushing.

* * *

Rey didn't have much time to mourn the loss of Han, wiping the freezing tears from her cheeks as Finn piloted a stolen snow speeder frantically across Starkiller Base. The wind gusted against her skin, and she burrowed herself deeper into the jacket Finn had passed off to her, insisting in a fit of gallantry that she should be warm.

The stolen jacket that had first brought them together. Already, it smelled of Finn, and its warmth was like an extension of him, even as he was seated in the chair next to her.

Lasers pinged at them from Snowtroopers giving chase. Rey squealed in terror as one dodged past her head, and she turned around in her seat to fire back with a blaster.

"Switch places!" Finn bellowed over the roar of the engines. They scrambled about each other, keeping their heads ducked low, and Rey took the wheel. She had barely taken control when -

PING! A shot from behind exploded almost all of their back panel, and the speeder jolted. The pair looked at each other, cringing. Another hit like that, and they would run aground.

Finn twisted around in his seat. Balancing the long blaster in between the seats, he took careful aim... and fired.

A direct hit, and their pursuers' speeder flamed out.

They landed the speeder at the edge of a forest of trees, Rey glancing back from where they had fled, Finn's coat warm across her shoulders. Finn led the way into the woods, where he had informed her that the _Falcon_ was parked on the other side.

"The _Falcon_'s this way!" Through a grove of trees, a sudden crackle made them both halt. And there stood Kylo Ren, the red glow of his saber making him even more grotesque.

"We're not done yet," he snarled.

Rey sneered at him, unquantifiable rage directed at this man. No, not man... "You're a _monster_!" she spat with venom.

"It's just us now... Han Solo can't save you," Kylo taunted. He pounded his chest, and Rey noticed the flecks of blood staining the snow at his feet. Seeing a chance, Rey raised her blaster.

Kylo threw out his hand and Rey was suddenly lifted off her feet. She let out a high-pitched scream, just before...

There was a sickening CRACK as her body connected with a tree trunk. Finn's heart dropped into his stomach along with her falling body as she collapsed into a snowdrift and lay still.

"REY!" Finn dashed forward, sinking to his knees. Turning her over gingerly, he cuddled her in his arms, cradled her soft face in his hands, caressing her cheek. She looked almost like a princess, asleep. "Rey! No, no, Rey..." His words faded into breathy babbling as he tried to hold back the tears. She couldn't die - not like this! Not now!

At his back, Finn suddenly heard a scream.

"TRAITOR!"

Finn stiffened, his entire back locking up. Jumping to his feet and finding the saber in Rey's pack, he ignited its blue blade challengingly.

Kylo leveled his red laser sword at Finn threateningly. "That lightsaber... it belongs to me."

"Come get it," Finn goaded. And with a roar, he charged. Kylo parried him almost disinterestedly, but Finn held his own, pouring his rage into every slash even as he was expending most of his energy. Only his rage fueled him, bolstered by the deep, undying love for the beautiful young woman lying helpless in the snow.

This was the monster who had captured _his_ Rey, this was the monster who had done Gods-know-what to her while she was imprisoned. Had he raped her? Finn shuddered to think of it, and the thought - although vile - seemed to egg him on even more, enough to even get a hit in on the Sith.

Kylo yelped like a dog. Swinging his blade in an arc, he backed Finn into a tree, their sabers locking. Finn watched as a cross-guard of the red saber inched down, and then started burning a hole in his shoulder. He roared in agony, not noticing how - yards away - Rey's body and heart stirred at his cry.

Kylo spun himself and Finn around, finally finding an opening to slice Finn open along his back without mercy. The ex-trooper collapsed in the snow.

* * *

Rey couldn't believe that she had done it. She had defeated Kylo Ren. Now on her knees at Finn's too motionless body, she nuzzled her face into his chest and wept.

The first thing she had done was check for a pulse and, thank the Maker, there was one! But it was weak, faint. Finn would need medical assistance quickly if he was to live.

And he had to live, Rey vowed. The first person who had ever cared to come back for her had opened her heart to such an extent that she cared for him, too - deeply and dearly.

Just then, lights bathed the pair sprawled in the snow, and Rey's tear-stained face glanced up to see the Falcon touching down nearby. Chewie helped her carry Finn onboard, Rey racing, stricken, after him, heart still in her mouth.

* * *

Back on D'Qar, Rey hovered worriedly as she watched the medics checking over Finn's body. They shone lights in his eyes, healed the bones in his jaw. He was still unconscious, which deeply unnerved her, and she silently pleaded with him to wake up.

_It took me so long to find you... someone who cares... please, please don't leave me..._

A passing medic took pity on her, clearly having seen the concern etched on Rey's face, and the doctor gently clapped her shoulder.

"Your friend's gonna be just fine." With the activity of the base and cacophony of other voices, Rey thought for a second that she had said _boyfriend_, and her cheeks flushed fuchsia. She didn't answer, couldn't speak for a moment as she grimaced weakly, and the medic moved on.

The map to Luke Skywalker was pieced together and Rey was tasked with going to the island of Ahch-To to find him. Although Rey was torn in two over having to leave her dear friend, she accepted the mission for the sake of the Resistance.

Just before she left, she sat over Finn's sickbed, gazing down at him with sad, deep affection.

"We'll see each other again. I believe that."

And there it was again, without warning - the sharp and inexplicable urge to kiss him, brush her lips against his. Like before on Starkiller Base, she batted it away, though weakly. But her heart swelled urgently, compelling her to display... her love.

Slowly, with tender care, Rey bent over Finn, dipped her head and pressed a firm, loving kiss into his forehead, her lips wet.

And although she very nearly was compelled to use a different adjective, she whispered, "Thank you... my friend."


	6. Chapter 5: Absence Makes the Heart Grow

**Chapter 5: Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder**

"Rey!"

It was rather appropriate, natural even, that her name would be the first upon his lips at the moment he jerked back into the conscious world. In fact, Finn jerked a little too sharply, banging his head on a glass encasement blinking with readouts and charts ascertaining his health.

His eyes darted about, quickly getting a read on his present situation: he was in a medical bay, being treated, so he was probably with the Resistance. But where exactly was he? Surely not Starkiller - the planet had been blowing up behind them as he and Rey fled. The last thing he remembered was everything going black as his back burned in agony. Collapsing into the snow...

Frustrated, he slapped at the glass encasement around his head, and somehow managed to hinge it off. He was wearing a white medical suit, now oddly leaking with fluid, mostly water. At least, he hoped it was water - and not bodily fluid more important.

Trying to sit up, he lost his balance and prat-fell off what was clearly the cot he had been lying on, oofing as he hit the floor. Staggering out into the hall, it wasn't long before he found BB8 and Poe. His pilot friend filled him in, telling him all about the evacuation of D'Qar; apparently, Finn had been out for hours.

"You must have a thousand questions..."

Finn actually had only one question.

"Where's Rey?"

* * *

A day or so later and far away on Ahch-To, Rey looked in on Chewie in the cockpit of the _Falcon_, as they prepared to settle in for another, rainy night on the island planet. The Wookie was presently trying to fiddle with the transponder.

"If you get through, check their status... and ask about Finn." He had been on her mind ever since she lifted off from D'Qar. Was he awake? Was he still hurt? He and his wellbeing were in her head almost constantly, battling for dominion alongside her quest to get Luke Skywalker to stop moping and come back to the fight. Did Finn know she was gone? Did he miss her? Rey's heart fluttered at the hope that he might.

Letting out a pining sigh, she wandered down the gangplank and out into the rain.

* * *

Kylo Ren had attacked them out in deep space without warning, blowing through the Resistance command ship and hurtling General Leia Organa to what should have been a quick, cold death amidst the stars. By a miracle of the Force, she had flown herself back to the Beta ship, her soldiers letting her in through the ship's airlock. The famed princess was now being whisked away to the med bay on a gurney, the wheels jiggling on the linoleum floor so that a tiny beacon slipped from her hand.

The only one to notice it fall, Finn picked up the beacon and examined it. Hadn't Leia and Poe informed him - after his persistent badgering - that Leia kept this beacon on her... and Rey had the other one, its twin?

With Leia unlikely to wake up anytime soon, and a desperate plan already falling into his head, Finn pocketed the beacon and moved towards the escape pod bay.

He would have quietly slipped away too, if it hadn't been for an annoying janitor fan-girling over him. The more she refused to let Finn shoo her away, the more nervous he got, until she pieced together his attempt to desert.

Finn really needed to stop being an easy read. And he really, _really_ needed to stop getting tazed. BB8's zaps were bad enough.

Waking up back on a gurney, Finn was subjected to Rose discovering the beacon and demanding where he'd gotten it. He explained that the other one was with Rey of Jakku.

"I gotta get this beacon far away from here, then she'll find me and be safe."

* * *

This was completely insane. She was about to mail herself to the Supreme Leader of the First Order, on the sliver of hope that he might relinquish power completely and come away with her. Pausing as she lowered herself into the escape pod shaped like a coffin - how appropriately morbid, she thought, considering the context - Rey turned back to Chewie.

"If you see Finn before I do... tell him..."

_That I love him_. At least that was what she wanted to say. Chewie guessed at a more appropriate response instead.

_That you'll come back to him?_

She smiled softly. "Yeah. Tell him that." And she closed the hatch, the saber resting on her chest.

_I'll come back for you, Finn_.

* * *

The pile of boulders lifted into the sky, revealing the entrance to the cave that the Force had told Rey would be there.

And there he was. Healthy and whole and alive. He was wearing a handsome white tunic, the dip in the V-neck revealing some of a muscular and toned chest. Rey smiled sentimentally at the glorious sight, even as she tried not to stare.

And then Finn was pitching himself forward, coming for her at a dead sprint. Rey let the boulders crash to the ground around them, and then she was in his arms, yanked into a bone-crushing embrace. In utter relief, she threw her arms about his neck.

She was here. She was alive. And he was here, and it was _Finn_ \- her Finny - and no one would ever again take him away from her. Not even... Ben...

Rey's heart twinged for the slightest instant and then the wave of another love swept it away. The man in her arms was all she needed. So she resolved herself in resting her chin on his shoulder, her head nuzzling against his as she closed her eyes with a blissful, content smile on her face. Once again, she was at peace. She was whole again.

That peace would not be kept for long, though, as Rey sat on a shipping box aboard the _Millennium Falcon_. She watched as Finn crossed over to a cot in one corner, where a brown-skinned girl - she thought someone had said her name was Rose - lay. Holding the broken pieces of the Skywalker saber in her fingers, Rey watched as Finn tenderly brushed back the bangs on Rose's forehead... and her heart clenched, threatening to shatter.

A great jealous rage rose up inside Rey, and she barely, vaguely noted her brain scolding her, reminding her that she had never even met this woman. And yet, this... Rose was taking up all the attentions of someone whom Rey saw as rightfully hers. _Her_ Finny.

No... No! Rey couldn't, refused to, take another heartbreak. Have her heart broken for a second time.


	7. Chapter 6: Feelings Shifting

**Chapter 6: Feelings Shifting**

The next year passed agonizingly slowly for Rey, Finn and the splintered remains of the Resistance. Rose Tico eventually awoke from a brief coma after the Battle of Crait, and as the months passed, Rey was relieved that - for the time Finn spent with the technician girl - it paled in comparison to all the time Finn spent with her.

Rey and Finn were back together again, and nearly inseparable. Her handsome Stormtrooper was a sturdy bulwark against Jedi training, and the churning tide of emotions in which Rey struggled. For far away, and at once seemingly right behind her, she still had to come to terms with the Force Bond between herself and Kylo that she still didn't understand. Still had to navigate the concerning bubble of... yearning for a man that she should hate, a yearning that she only ever again felt when she was with another man whom she had come to...

Love? Was that really a strong enough, apt enough word for what she had with Finn? Certainly, he was kind and brave. And she and he spent time together every day. With every conversation, Rey felt that only Finn could soothe and understand her, as she confided in him deep fears and insights into the Force that had chosen her. The only aspect of her soul that she refused to bare to him was the connection that remained with Ben.

"I have this great power... and not even Luke Skywalker could completely help me understand what to do with it," Rey confessed, as they sat together in a dimly-light corner of their new base. "It scares me, Finny."

Finn cocked his head, smirking, amused. "What did you just say?"

"I'm scared..."

"No, after that." Finn's grin broadened as he softly took her hand in his. "Finny?"

Catching herself and realizing what she said, Rey felt heat bloom nearly everywhere. She smiled weakly. "My pet name for you," she admitted.

To her relief, Finn thew back his head and laughed. "I like it," he gave her hand a squeeze. "And for you, Rey, you're the only one who's allowed to call me that."

She beamed at him tenderly, but the light in her eyes quickly faltered as all her worries came flooding back. Lacing her fingers even tighter through his, she glanced down and whispered, "I'm afraid that my powers will hurt other, innocent people. And that they'll then want to hurt me. Or leave me." The last was but a soft whisper.

Rey felt Finn's grip around her hand tighten, while his other reached out to cup her cheek, turning her face towards his. "Hear this now: Rey... nothing you could do would compel me... I would never, _ever_ hurt you. Or leave you."

Her expression and heart melted. "And... I would never want to leave or hurt you. So... maybe we should stop ourselves before... we... kiss..." Her voice trailed off, rambling in a whisper as Finn brought his entrancing face quite close. Though her eyes had grown heavy and lidded, she could see the sheen of sweat on his face now. Somewhere along the line, her fingers had woven themselves into his long hair. A few more inches, and she would know what it felt like to have her lips pressed against his...

"FINN? REY? WHERE ARE YOU?" A voice suddenly called from a short distance, its owner nearly in view. Poe then rounded the corner a parsec later, his friends not fast enough in concealing the sight before him.

Rey huffed out a breath. "I'm over here," she sighed forlornly. For all his handsomeness and charm, Poe Dameron could be a nosy little piece of work - a conclusion bolstered by how he was now looking curiously between Rey and Finn, an almost hopeful grin making its way onto his face.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked, as Finn and Rey leaned away from each other. Two pairs of faces turned red.

"N...no," Rey stammered, smiling weakly even though she wanted nothing more than to strangle the pilot. Giving Finn's hand a squeeze, she murmured, "I'll see you at evening meal." She hurriedly left.

Dazed by what had almost happened, Finn made to follow her, but a burly arm got in his way. Glancing to his comrade, Poe jerked his head in the direction Rey had fled.

"So... are you and she... you know... together?" Poe wraggled his eyebrows for emphasis. If it was possible, Finn turned even more pink.

"No, nothing like that. Just friends."

"Uh-huh." Poe clearly didn't accept that. "And what about Rosie?"

Here, Finn's voice seemed more assured. "We talked about it, and Crait... was a moment. But that's it. Friends, there, too."

Poe chortled, clapping Finn on the shoulder. "I can't keep up with your 'just friends', man." But his eyes told Finn that, at least where Rey was concerned, Poe wasn't buying it. Not for one parsec.


	8. Chapter 7: What Was It You Wanted to Tel

**Chapter 7: What Was It You Wanted to Tell Me?**

He had been off-world, gone from Ajan Kloss, for four days, and Rey's nerves were absolutely shot.

The stoutly independent and deeply mistrustful girl she had been on Jakku would have laughed, at how she pined for Finn and fretted for his safety while he was away. Terrors over her handsome Stormtrooper being injured or captured had kept Rey up every night since he had left.

On this particular mission, she had begged him not to go, sensing that it was increasingly dangerous. Someone deep inside the First Order had been leaking intelligence to the Resistance, acting as a mole for months and insisting that Resistance members travel farther and farther afield to receive this intelligence. Rey had not been comforted by Finn soothing her, telling her that he would be on the _Falcon_ with Poe and Chewie. With Poe Dameron in the captain's chair of the _Millennium Falcon_, Rey was even more convinced that her beloved Finny would come back to her dead, or worse, in pieces.

Worse still, though their deep and intimate conversations remained and they were still closer than ever, Rey and Finn had never discussed the almost-kiss that had nearly occurred between them some months back. Rey was not skilled in the ways of romance - growing up, she had never been interested in it - but even she was starting to second-guess where they stood, going by their lack of communication or willingness to discuss openly exploring the possibility of a relationship. _Maybe when Finny comes back, I can take him aside_, Rey thought. She _would_ talk to him, she vowed.

In the interim, Rey had tried everything to keep Finn from her thoughts. She had studied the Jedi texts. She had run herself ragged on the jungle obstacle course and focused on meditation in her training with Leia, her new Jedi Master. And she still also had to tangle with the thoughts clipping into her brain from Kylo across their Bond - the Supreme Leader was growing increasingly unstable.

On this particular morning, Rey finished an obstacle course run less convincingly then she had hoped, ending her exercise by accidentally lightsaber-chopping down a tree onto BB8. She had been putting off what she really wanted to do for too long, she decided. Like a drug addict succumbing to relapsing into her next fix, the Jedi decided to go see Rose.

Rey found the technician seated at a desk with a holographic screen before her, showing maps and readouts. Despite a lingering concern that the brown-skinned girl was a threat to Rey's deepest desire, the two women had formed a tentative acquaintance, ironically over their shared connection to Finn.

Seeing Rey coming, Rose knew by now to understand what Rey was after, for she smirked as the other girl sat down beside her. "Don't worry. Our scanner's just picked up the Falcon coming this way through hyperspace. Poe radioed in - the package has been extracted. They'll be landing at 0200 hours."

Rey let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Rose eyed her again with a sympathetic smile. "Finn's going to be all right, Rey. He'd move stars and the planets to come back to you. The man is in love with you, after all."

Rey stared at her, her cheeks now aflame. "W-what?" she stammered, a giddy smile breaking its way onto her face unbidden. Her heart ectopically leapt inside her body. Seeing her reaction, Rose smirked.

"And clearly, you're head over heels for him too, with how you've been badgering me the last four days... aren't you?" When Rey tellingly couldn't respond, Rose just chuckled, shaking her head. "Finn loves you. He as good as told me once on Canto Bight. I never stood a chance."

At this, Rey awkwardly stilled. She and Rose had never discussed the kiss the latter girl had given Finn on Crait, but Rose had to know that Rey knew. Finn had told her once when Rey had been scared enough to ask him if he was seeing her. Before Rey could say anything, Rose took her hand, smiling softly.

"You have nothing to fear from me. Finn and I discussed what happened on Crait, and we're on the same page. Just friends. You both have my blessing, and I wish you every happiness together. That is, if you would just push him up against the wall and kiss him all over his..."

"I'm going to go read the Jedi texts now," Rey got out abruptly, flushing scarlet and standing. She heard Rose's laugher at her retreating back.

Going up to the small reading nook she had set aside for herself in the base, Rey cracked open one of the texts she had taken off Ahch-To and tried to read the ancient ciphers on the page. Of course, her mind wandered to Finn, heart alighting as she realized in a matter of hours, he would be safe and here with her again.

It was actually less than an hour when Beaumont Kin and other friends called to her that the _Falcon_ had landed; the group must have arrived earlier than expected. Following ground control out to the freighter, Rey's heart went into her mouth when she saw how the beloved ship was on fire. Her teeth set on edge. What in Maker's name had Poe pulled now?

And there was the man himself, trudging exhaustingly up to her.

"How did it go?" Rey demanded.

"Pretty bad, actually. Really bad." Poe's tone clearly conveyed that he wasn't in the best mood - a mood which soured further when he saw what had happened to BB8. "What did you do to my droid?!"

"What did you do to the _Falcon_?!"

Here came the squabbling before either of them could stop it. Rey finally had to draw her fire before she said something really uncouth, but not before she got out through a tight smile, her teeth clenched, "You... you're - you're a difficult man." She had never liked Poe Dameron very much. He could be very arrogant and brash and even immature for his age, despite the fact that he was at least a peer of Ben. Rey had tried to at least be cordial, for Finn's sake, as she knew how much the pilot meant to him. But, sometimes... sometimes Dameron just got on her last nerve.

Finn mercifully jogged up at last; if she were not still so angry at Poe, Rey would have hugged him in utter relief. And maybe even have kissed him. She batted the image away and tried not to blush.

Poe and Finn delivered the intelligence to Resistance high command. What they found inside disturbed them all: Emperor Palpatine had returned, and was amassing a fleet somewhere in the Unknown Regions, around a mysterious planet called Exogol. There was an ancient Sith artifact - a Wayfinder - that could point to the planet's location, and a mission was floated to fly to Pasaana, a desert planet where Luke had been searching for this very dagger in a trail that had gone cold years ago.

Naturally, Rey volunteered to go - she was the Jedi, with knowledge of the Force. She immediately set about readying the _Falcon_, whose fire had since been put out. The unnecessary damage still made Rey huff. Lightspeed skipping... of all the reckless things... what if they had crashed? What if something had happened to Finn?

It was if just thinking about him could make him appear (which, frankly, was the last thing Rey needed - she already, literally had that problem with another man for whom she had complicated feelings). Along with Poe, Finn stated in no uncertain terms that he was coming with her.

"It's too dangerous, Finn. I have to go alone," Rey chided. She would never forgive herself if she put him in danger. She couldn't help it if others put him in harm's way, but she damn well could help it of herself.

But Finn - dear, loyal, steadfast Finn! - was adamant. "We're all in this. Till the end."

Rey could only beam tenderly at him, her cup filled to the brim with love.

* * *

The trio, Chewbacca, and all three droids arrived on Pasaana in the middle of a literal festival. C3PO helpfully informed them that it was a Fertility festival, held only once every four decades or thereabouts. At this, Poe groaned, but Rey found herself becoming excited as she wandered through the celebrations of the Aki-Aki. A little Aki-Aki girl even gifted her with a golden necklace, with C3PO translating that she asked for Rey's name.

"Rey," she smiled.

"She would very much like to know your family's name," C3PO pressed.

At this, the light in Rey's eyes dimmed. As independent as she had been on Jakku, she had always dreamed of her parents coming back for her, of having a family of her own. An image of her and Finn holding a baby between them suddenly collapsed into her head, and her smile grew more wistful. Perhaps... someday...

"I don't have one," she murmured to the little Aki-Aki. "I'm just Rey."

It wasn't long before the presence of the First Order was felt. The humans, Threepio and Chewbacca hurried through the festival, trying to use it as cover to lose their pursuers. Unfortunately, Chewbacca's famous height impeded this effort.

But also helped them out, a little, as they found themselves pulled aside and coming face to face with Lando Calrissian. He pointed them in the direction of a ship once owned by an Ochi, the alleged previous owner of the Sith dagger, before the Resistance group had to flee. Before long, they were racing across the desert in stolen speeders, pursued by First Order jetpack troopers.

Piloting one skiff with BB8 and Chewie, Rey watched the partnering skiff nervously out of the corner of her eye. Poe was piloting again, and looking like he was having way too much fun. Did the man not know how to fly safely? Blaster fire struck near the men, and Rey's heart lunged in terror towards Finn.

The group managed to shake most of their pursuers, but not before both skiffs were downed, launching all of the young heroes overboard and into a dark-gray and black pit of what looked likes coal or ashes. At least that was the color and resemblance of the strange sand they now found themselves in... which now caused anything and everything caught up in it to rapidly sink.

"Whoa! What the hell is this?" Poe yelped.

"Quicksand!" Rey screeched. There was no time to issue other warnings. Next to her, Finn was scrambling about for purchase as the sand started to claim him.

"Rey! Rey! I never told you, Rey -!" Too late. He was pulled under.

Rey gaped in horror. "_Finn_!" A moment later, she was dragged below as well, and waited for death to embrace her.

It didn't, dropping Rey instead into a dimly-lit cavern below. Poe caught her like a gentleman and quickly set her down, which she appreciated, though she would have preferred to land in Finn's arms. Glancing behind her, Rey saw Finn had been the first to stagger to his feet.

"Well? What is it?" Rey asked.

"What is what?" Finn blinked.

Rey sighed. "You said, 'I never told you, Rey.' What is it you have to tell me?" She couldn't help how her voice was laced with annoyance. She had a feeling she knew what Finn wanted to say. She had fantasized more than once just how he would tell her, and while ordinarily, her heart would have leapt at the moment's arrival, now she just felt peeved. Incredulous at his possible timing. Were they really going to have this conversation, which had been brewing for the past year, _now_? Or, as Rey and Finn now locked gazes, staring into each other's eyes and she regarded his sudden hesitance to speak, was he going to punt and wait for another time?

Another time. They were going with another time. "Oh, I'll... I'll tell you later," Finn got out lamely.

"You mean when Poe's not here?" came a voice from behind them.

Never, in all her life, had Rey more wanted to punch Poe Dameron for inserting himself into a private conversation. Kriff, she wanted to punch Finn too, for how squishy he was being. If he was going to say what they both knew he wanted to say, what she thought he was going to say - what _she_ wanted him to say - then he'd better just man up and damn well do it, and save them both the heartache. Rey knew it was selfish of her to not want to make the first move, but she realized at this point, she might not have a choice. Maybe she should just grab Finn now, suck his face and see how that turned out. The romantic in her was chiding, reminding her that there was a time and a place for confessions of love, and it wasn't in the middle of a war. On the other hand, there might not _be_ a later time and place...

Awkwardness reigned, with Finn looking even more sheepish and uncomfortable following Poe's interjection The moment was ruined, the spell broken, and not just by Poe, but also by a giant, worm-like creature in the tunnel further ahead of them...

* * *

Rey's hands shook along with the rest of her body as she tried to concentrate on working to fire up Ochi's old ship.

She still couldn't quite believe it. She felt dirty. She felt like a monster - one even more vile than Kylo Ren, with whom she had just destroyed a ship in a ridiculous game of Force tug-of-war. She and her Bond mate had an unusual and unhealthy habit of grappling over things until they were ripped in half - first Luke's lightsaber, and now this transport...

A transport that was now broken apart and which had had Chewie aboard it. Chewie was _dead_... she had killed Chewie!

And with a power - Force lightning - that she didn't understand and should have only applied to Sith.

"It's my fault," Rey murmured crestfallen, and she wanted to weep. At her side, Finn was gazed at her soothingly, and she wanted to burrow herself in his arms and feel their safety.

"It is not your fault," Finn countered. "There was nothing you could have done." Biting his lip, he tried to change the subject. "Rey...?"

She turned to face him, her heart momentarily ceasing to beat. Was _this_ finally the moment? If so, she had to concede that, however much he meant well, her Finny had terrible timing.

But no. Instead, Finn asked, "When you touched Ochie's dagger, you saw something. What did you see?"

Rey could never lie to Finn - never had. And although the same could not be said in the reciprocal, she had forgiven him for that long ago. As she always had over a year of many, close conversations, Rey confided in him, "I saw myself... on the throne of the Sith...with Ren."

Finn's eyes widened, but he shook his head fiercely. "That'll never happen to you, Rey. I know you."

Rey just turned and gazed at him sadly. "Finn... people keep telling me they know me. I'm afraid that no one does."

She regretted her phrasing almost instantly, for how it sounded, and she turned and walked away before she could see any more of the hurt and concern in Finn's eyes...


	9. Chapter 8: Goodbye Forever?

**Chapter 8: Goodbye Forever?**

It turned out that Chewie had not been on the transport that Rey had fried. While seeking out a hacker named Babu Frik to reprogram C3PO and help the golden droid read the message that had been on the Sith Wayfinder, the group learned that the Wookie and the Knights of Ren had fled Pasaana on a different transport. Setting aside for the moment that Rey and Kylo had played tug-of-war with the wrong ship, the Resistance team mounted a rescue mission, using a First Order clearance badge given to them by Zorri Bliss, an old girlfriend of Poe's.

Landing right on Kylo Ren's Star Destroyer, Rey, Poe and Finn raced through the corridors. After the Jedi mind-tricked a couple of Stormtroopers, the three decided to split up.

"You guys get Chewie. See you back at the _Falcon_." Rey looked at Finn for a moment. Knowing there was a real possibility that Kylo would catch her, she realized: this could be it. It was now or never. Taking a deep breath, she had just made the decision, was just starting to propel her body forward to launch herself at him and kiss him...

But Poe and Finn were already turning and sprinting down the hallway. Swaying to a stop with inertia, Rey huffed out a breath. Oh, kriff. Now she would have to get off this piece of junk alive if she ever wanted to... She moved on.

Rey found the Wayfinder and recovered most of Chewie's confiscated things, but her Force Bond opened to Kylo Ren and they had a lightsaber fight right there in his rooms. Meanwhile, the men had sprung Chewie and were making a mad dash back to the _Falcon_ when Hux captured them. The evil general marched the group to just off the hangar bay to be executed. Unfortunately, Poe chose this precise moment to needle Finn about what he wanted to tell Rey earlier.

Just when things looked hopeless, Hux turned on his own men and announced himself as the spy. He even let the group escape for the _Falcon_. Poe fired it up and they lifted off to hover just outside the hangar bay, where they could see Rey in a standoff with Kylo. None of them could hear how Kylo was revealing to Rey that she was the Emperor's granddaughter, and that Palpatine had ordered her parents killed.

The gangplank to the _Falcon_ lowered, and Finn reached out a hand. "COME ON!" Rey Force leapt to him across the expanse, and Finn swung her around. Feeling herself nestle back into his wonderful arms, the pair hustled onboard the freighter and blasted away.

* * *

Seeing Rey and Kylo engaged in a fierce lightsaber duel just ahead, Finn made to dash forward amidst the ocean spray lapping onto the ruins of the Death Star. Jannah held him back.

"We can't follow her!"

"I can't leave her!" Finn bellowed. He was practically vibrating with terror. "REY!"

"We can't!" Jannah insisted.

At a lull in the waves crashing against the aged structure, he made to sprint the short distance to the two Force users. He ignored Jannah's screaming behind him. He was almost there when -

Rey turned between swings and saw her Finn coming. Coming to save her. She shuddered to think what Kylo might do to Finn if the ex-Stormtrooper was caught in his clutches a second time.

"NO!" she screamed, throwing out a hand and the Force. It was the hardest thing she ever had to do, to push him back, when she needed his comfort, his love, as her destiny became harder and harder to obtain.

There was a screech of metal, and Rey watched in horror as the section of the Death Star holding Finn and Jannah broke away from her own platform. High waves crashed up towards the air as the pieces broke, so Rey couldn't see what happened to her friends.

"NO!" she screamed in anguish. If that was it, that was the end, and she never got to tell Finn how she really felt...

But no, he was still alive. Somehow, she could sense it.

Turning back to Kylo with new rage, Rey continued the fight...

* * *

He was in the skies above Exogol when he felt it. Felt the agonizing tear of Rey's presence being yanked from this galaxy. Staggering against the wall of the ship, his face fell in horror.

No... No! The woman he loved could not be gone. Not before he got to tell her he loved her, and maybe even finally kiss her, if she'd have him.

Feeling Jannah next to him, a grief-stricken Finn returned to the battle.

It was strange relief, then, for the Force to later show him mercy, as Finn once again sensed Rey near him, and he realized she was flying an old X-Wing off of Exogol.

"Rey's alive!"


	10. Chapter 9: No More Waiting

**Chapter 9: No More Waiting**

Rey, Finn and Poe stepped out of the three-way hug on Ajan Kloss. The Jedi and former Stormtrooper gazed into each other's eyes, their expressions matching ones of relief. Sensing the tension, Poe smirked.

"So who speaks first? You do? She does?" No response, and his smirk broadened. "I think I'll go... do something." Still, they ignored him, not deigning him with an OK, and so the pilot stayed right where he was.

Finn's expression steeled into something quite somber. "There's something I need to tell you..."

Rey just beamed and shook her head. She was done waiting for the perfect moment. She was done holding back on expressing her feelings - not when she now knew that time was precious. She had thought it while dying on Exogol, how she was never going to see Finn again...

But she had been given a second chance. And Rey didn't intend to waste it. And so, smiling so wide it nearly broke her face, Rey assertively looped her arms about Finn's neck.

"Stop talking," she murmured. And with that, not even sure if he would return her love, Rey brought her face quite close and fiercely kissed him.

She was both surprised and pleased when Finn responded to her kiss almost immediately, taking her waist and pulling her closer with a groan. Closing her eyes dreamily, Rey tangled her fingers into his dark locks and parting her lips, she deepened the kiss, allowing their tongues to merge and touch. She thrust out her hips and shivered with delight as she felt clearly his desire for her. Even as her mouth quickly grew sore with how passionately Finn was kissing her back, Rey's lips upturned against his into a triumphant smile.

Somewhere far, far away, Rey heard a deadened roar burst through as the Resistance base erupted in cheers. She felt Finn laugh into her lips, his warm breath tickling her face, and he picked her up and spun her around, not once breaking the kiss. Throwing her arms about his neck, Rey moaned loudly and shoved her lips against Finn's, kissing him harder.

Then she finally said the words she always wanted to say.

"I love you!" she whispered into his mouth, her voice strangely hoarse. She felt Finn's grip, sure and strong, tighten. Nothing would ever keep them apart again.

* * *

Rey was quite happy and pleased, with how quickly she and Finn were becoming comfortable kissing each other.

Her Finny was a natural as, standing in the privacy of his rooms, as that first evening after the battle fell, he and Rey embraced and kissed and kissed and kissed some more.

When they softly broke apart for air, Rey grinned almost dopily and tenderly moved her fingers through his hair. Finn had grown out his dreadlocks after the Battle of Crait - something she had secretly approved of very much.

"You have the most wonderful hair," she giggled flirtatiously, blushing. That was something they were also learning - flirting with each other.

Finn chuckled, wrapping his arms about her waist. "Do I, now? I've been thinking about getting it cut - you know, with everything being over..."

"Oh, please don't!" Rey begged, running her fingers through the tendrils again. "I quite like it."

Finn laughed and, beaming into each other's eyes, the couple kissed again, lightly. Breaking apart, Rey saw the light in Finn's eyes dim just a bit, and she peered at him, running her hands down his toned chest.

"What is it?" she murmured.

"Is this real?" he breathed, gazing at her like she was goddess.

Rey laughed - a pure, crystalline sound. "It is," she whispered.

"And you're OK with it?"

She blinked, her face still bright. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because..." And he raised his hand up, studying it. Rey's brow furrowed and then widened with understanding. Did he really actually _think_...? Seizing his hand, resting her cheek against his palm, she kissed his fingers. "Do you think if I gave a kriffing _damn_ about that, that I would be thinking of... holding you close against my chest and pulling you inside me?"

Finn's eyes widened in astonishment at her boldness and Rey flushed pink. Her eyes grew hooded as Finn bent and kissed her again.

"Now... Mmmmm..." Rey tried to talk around his plundering lips. "What... hmmmm... was that what you wanted to tell me on Pasaana? That you love me?" Her voice hitched, tears threatening, at the acknowledgment that Finn loved her. Her Finny _loved_ her!

"No, actually," Finn admitted.

She gawked at him, trilling out a shocked and amused laugh. "No?"

"I wanted to tell you that... I'm Force sensitive."

Rey gasped, and Finn leaned in quite close. "I felt you die down on Exogol. And I was so scared..."

Rey let out another strangled breath and threw her arms around him, kissing him again. Drawing away, she placed a finger on his flushed and very kissed lips. "Sssh... don't speak. We're together now."

Finn smiled down at her and caressed a large palm through her hair. Rey leaned into the touch, sighing. She hadn't realized her eyes had drifted shut until Finn asked:

"Have you ever had anyone kiss you before? Before me?"

Rey's eyes popped open and she bit her lip. This was it. If she and Finn were going to be together, there could be no more secrets. No more lying to each other. And so, she told him everything.

Well, almost everything. She left out the part about being Palpatine's granddaughter. But the Bond, the Dyad, her death, Ben Solo... that was all brought out into the open.

"I woke up in Ben's arms. He brought me back to life. And... I was so happy to see him... I kissed him." She raised her eyes to Finn's fearfully, wondering how he would react.

Finn was studying her curiously. Finally, he managed to get out:

"Did you love him?"

Rey laced her fingers through his, as she worked through how to answer.

"In a sense," she conceded. "Yes, I did love him. I loved Ben Solo, not Kylo Ren. He was my Dyad mate, the other half of me. But... I could never not love you as well." Her eyes filled with tears. "I love you just as much as I did him. I love you so much, Finny!"

"Don't cry," Finn crooned, wiping away her tears and pulling her into his arms. Rey leaned into the embrace, for the first time feeling like she was truly home.

* * *

Finn nervously fiddled with the golden band in his pocket, waiting for Rey to emerge from the obstacle course that assisted in her Jedi training.

Was he rushing too fast into this? He and Rey had only been dating for a little over a month. And yet, already, Finn knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But what did he have to offer her, really? Not much beyond a heart full of love.

Rey suddenly emerged from the trees, and Finn's heart stopped as he beheld her in her white Jedi robes. Seeing him, her smile lit up the sun as she gathered him in her arms.

"Hey." They kissed chastely. "Were you waiting for me?" Her grin of amusement clearly thought this was adorable.

Turning pink, Finn gulped. "Yes. Rey, I... I..."

She cocked her head, still beaming, peering at him. "What is it?"

Before he had even fully worked through what he was going to say, Finn had dropped to one knee. Realizing what he was doing, both of Rey's hands went to her mouth as she gasped in astonishment.

"Rey..." Finn began. "I don't have much to offer you. I don't have money. Or status. I don't even have a last name that I can ask you to share."

Eyes brimming with tears, Rey shook her head. "I don't have a last name, either," she soothed him, which was true... from a certain point of view.

"But I can offer you my heart." Finn held out the ring. "Will you marry me, Rey?"

Tugging him to his feet, Rey sent him the most radiant, if also watery, smile. "Of course," she murmured. And draping her arms about his neck, she kissed him.

* * *

It was a lovely wedding. General Poe Dameron himself married them, blessing the Jedi and ex-Stromtrooper. When Finn saw Rey, gliding down the aisle towards him all dressed in white and with Chewie on her arm, it was like an angel had descended from the Force itself to be with him. Taking her hands in his, Finn began reciting his wedding vows.

"Well: at least our outfits match our skin tones." Everyone in the congregation laughed, the bride's giggle sounding like sweet music. "Also, roses are red, violets are blue, but I don't think we should honeymoon on Jakku." The laughter crescendoed; Poe Dameron was doubled over the pulpit and shaking from amusement. Finn continued to say his piece, promising Rey that he would love her forever. He finished by placing a pendant around Rey's neck. In lieu of wedding rings, he and his bride had chosen more poignant pendants to symbolize their marriage: the beacons that General Leia Organa had gifted them while they were apart. "Rey, with this beacon, I thee wed."

Rey's vows were far more simple, but they still said it all. "You came back for me. But you will never have to search for me again, because I will always be by your side. I love you. It may seem simple, but I love you." Taking a deep breath, clutching her bridal bouquet, Rey smiled the most wonderful smile as she professed, "I love my husband." Remembering, she placed a matching pendant around Finn's neck. "Finn, with this beacon, I thee wed."

Poe beamed at the couple. "I now pronounce these two husband and wife. You may kiss." Rey flew into Finn's arms. As their wedding kiss deepened to cheers and wolf whistles, Rey's eyes fluttered shut and she almost absentmindedly cast her bridal bouquet over her shoulder and aside, not even bothering to see where it landed.

So the bride was incredibly amused to later learn that it was Rose Tico who caught the bouquet.

* * *

Heart hammering in her chest, Rey slowly turned her back to her new husband, alone in their own private suite on the Ajan Kloss base. Tucking her long chestnut tresses over her shoulder, she allowed Finn to slowly undress her out of her wedding gown. She felt Finn's lips dip fiery kisses into the skin on her neck and she leaned back into him with a sigh, her eyes rolling. His calloused palms reached up to cup the swell of her breasts, squeezing each luscious mound and tweaking her pebbling nipples. Rey _moaned_ at his touch. "Mmmmmm….."

Slowly, her zipper came undone. Stepping out of the dress, Rey felt the warmest palm on her cheek, turning her face into Finn's as he kissed her fiercely.

Closing her eyes, Rey yanked her husband closer with a guttural groan. "Mmmmhmmmmm..." Sagging her arms about his neck, the newlyweds backed up towards their bed. Finn gallantly dipped his bride back onto the mattress, and he held her gently. As he settled against her, Rey began to feel nervous again. Would she do it right? Would she even know what she was doing? She had heard that the first time always hurt for a girl, and though she had never entertained the thought of marriage during her harsh childhood, she realized that this was her preference - to save herself until she lay in bed with her husband. Besides, this was Finn - _her_ Finn, _her_ Finny - the man she loved. He would never hurt her; he'd surely die first.

And so, holding his eyes, she allowed Finn to slowly ease himself past her maidenhead. There was a slight pinch and she tugged him closer, pulling him inside her.

Husband and wife both gasped on impact. Rey felt and heard Finn groan into her neck. Slowly, he began to thrust his hips, and she matched him, arching her back. Grabbing his buttocks and digging her nails into the shapely curves, she gave both cheeks a loving, firm squeeze. Finn responded by slobbering his mouth and tongue over her right breast, taking the perky, dark purple between his teeth and biting down ever so slightly. Rey arched into him with a squeak. Finn only nipped at her boob a tad harder, and Rey cried out, but she liked it.

"Finn! You _beast_!" And she swatted his chest in mock indignation. She felt his smirk as he continued to try and taste her breasts whole.

As they worked up a rhythm and the bed creaked beneath them, Rey's moans of pleasure grew steadily louder, as she made sounds a woman could only make as she was being made love to by her husband.

"Uhhhh... Huhhh... Hmmmm... Mmmm... Gods... Finny..." The heat inside of her was building, cresting fast. Rey and Finn kissed each other's lips in little, frantic pecks.

"Hmmm... Finny, I'm... I'm gonna cum..." Rey cried.

She felt his breath tickle her earlobe. "I love you, little desert flower." That was her own little pet name.

"FINNY!" She came all around him screaming her release.

* * *

She lay strewn across his sweaty, muscular chest, as they reveled in post-coital bliss. Rey was tracing lazy circles along Finn's pectorals, her face frowning in contemplation.

"Finny?" she murmured sweetly. "I have one more thing I need to tell you."

She felt him shift against her expectantly, waiting. "Yes, love?"

Rey bit her lip. "When you proposed to me, and I told you I didn't have a last name to take as my maiden name... I actually did." Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to look him in the face. "My real name in Rey Palpatine. The Emperor was my grandfather." The rest of it spilled out after that, how her parents had loved her and tried to protect her from Ochie, and paid a terrible price.

Although she could feel his stunned reaction in the Force, Finn maintained an admirable poker face. After a moment, he craned his face up and kissed her sweetly. Rey's eyes fluttered shut as she leaned into the kiss. When they broke the kiss at last, Finn caught her eyes and held them.

"I don't care."

She blinked, gazing at him. "You don't? How can you be so sure?"

"Because I already know you. You're the kindest, most wonderful person. People like you don't just come out of thin air." Finn ran a hand through her matted hair, plastered to her face. Taking some locks of her brown hair in his fingers, he murmured quietly:

"Strange as it may sound, you're lucky. At least you know about your family."

Rey's face fell and her heart shattered for him. "Oh, Finn..." Worse still than knowing you were descended from an evil bloodline was not knowing your bloodline at all. Rey knew a bit of what that felt like - for a long time, she had thought she was a nobody. She recalled some words he had spoken to her, not long after they met: _I was taken from a family I'll never know... _

"Someday, when we've settled... I was hoping that I could go in search of them. I've been talking to Jannah and Mr. Calrissian. They are going to seek answers for her and other Stormtroopers like me. Would you support me in that?"

As if he had to ask that of his wife. Smiling lovingly at him, Rey wrapped herself in his arms, resting her head on his chest as he kissed the top of her crown. Still beaming in understanding, she vowed in a whisper:

"I'm coming with you."


	11. Chapter 10: Our Little Corner of the Gal

**Chapter 10: Our Little Corner of the Galaxy**

"You know, for most newlyweds, the whole point of a honeymoon is to go hide somewhere and _relax_," Poe Dameron chided his best friends, as he huffed down a side hallway to his office with Rey and Finn hurrying after him, faces and voices pleading. "Not run errands." The pilot flopped into his desk chair with a huff.

Of course, he understood what Finn was hoping to find. It was what he and his new bride were asking of him that was making his job hard, as he also tried to build an entire galactic government from the ground up.

"Please, Poe," Rey's hands were clasped as if in prayer. "Just tell them we'll be back later than expected. We're still going on our honeymoon... sort of."

"Just tell them anything other than the truth," Finn added. As soon as he said it, though, he winced. That could have come out better.

"So you want me to lie to my high command and advisers, about what the biggest power couple in the galaxy is actually doing," Poe stared at them.

"Yes," Rey and Finn chorused. After all, they did want to be alone, especially in a romantic sense, and the paparazzi and tabloid media would be trying to hunt them down anyway.

Poe ran a tired hand over his face. "All right, all right. I'll... make something up."

Beaming, Rey actually did something she had never done before and kissed Poe on the cheek. They had started out rocky, but she hoped that she and the pilot would become better friends as time went on. It had not been a hard decision, to ask him to marry her and Finn - mostly because she knew how much it would mean to her new husband. "I knew you couldn't always be a difficult man."

Poe tried not to blush. "Yeah, yeah, yeah - now go on, get out of here, you two!" But waggling his eyebrows, he gave them a saucy wink.

* * *

Rey and Finn left on their honeymoon - and their mission of closure, as Rey had referred to it - without any point of reference at which to start or where to look. They took the _Falcon_, keeping it mostly under the cloaking device so they wouldn't be followed. After a romantic first night, lounging and having sex in the meadows of Naboo, the Jedi and her paramour hired a reliable slicer in one Zorri Bliss, to hack into First Order archive files and try to pull up anything related to Finn. When they found out where the man once known as FN-2187 had been registered, they hit pay-dirt. The couple paid the beautiful bounty hunter handsomely for her trouble, accompanied by the permission to clandestinely slip a message to Poe telling him they were all right.

"I'd deliver it in person, if I were you," Rey advised the gorgeous woman, pecking her cheek. Like with Poe, she was starting to hope that she and Zorri could move past a rocky footing. "He misses you." To the Jedi's satisfaction, she thought she saw Zorri blush.

"OK," she got out, her voice full of hope. She hugged Finn, then Rey once again. Gesturing back to the dark-skinned man, she whispered in Rey's ear. "Fuck his brains out every chance you get. You landed yourself a _fine_ one."

Rey turned scarlet and playfully nudged her away. "I'll try. Thanks, Zorri!"

Zorri's digging took the couple to a planet called Haruun Kal, out in the Mid-Rim. It was a chilly world with frosty tundra stretching for miles. The moment they set foot on it, Finn had a natural affinity for the place.

"I... remember being here," he admitted.

Coming upon a tiny, lakeside village, the couple asked around about a child who might have been abducted from the First Order about twenty years earlier. On the edges of the black market, an elderly man seemed to recognize Finn and offered to help them.

The old man guided Rey and Finn to a burned and dilapidated farm just outside of town. Only one hut, made of green moss, was still standing relatively strong on the edge of the property.

"The old Windu farm," the old man announced. "Fellow named Cal Windu lived here with his wife for many years. They had a baby boy who went missing about six months after he was born. Legend has it that the First Order took special interest in the kid because he was the grandson of a fugitive Jedi - one who sat on the High Council and wielded a purple lightsaber."

The Force whispered in Finn's ear. "Mace Windu," he breathed.

The old man smiled, and then suddenly pulled something from his cloak and handed it to Finn. "I know it is you, boy. Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well."

Glancing at each other, Rey and Finn reached for the lightsaber. Touching it at the same moment, they were both sucked into a vision.

There was a dark-skinned man with a purple lightsaber, fighting an older man with one of red. Finn's grandfather got the upper hand against - Rey realized with shock - Palpatine, her own grandfather.

Then, a third man appeared, handsome and youthful, and gazing at him, Rey recognized striking features she had seen in... Ben...

Anakin Skywalker, the man who would become Darth Vader.

Whipping out a blue blade, Anakin betrayed Mace and sliced off his arm. Palpatine then attacked again, blasting Mace with Sith lightning out of a window.

Rey and Finn were yanked out of the vision, and they reeled back on their heels, stunned. Finn fought the lump in his throat.

"What... what happened to my parents?"

"I'm afraid they passed away, son - a long time ago."

Finn slowly nodded his head in acceptance. Seeing the broken expression on his face, Rey took his hand in hers.

"I love you, Finn Windu."

He beamed at her, taking her in his arms and kissing her. "And I love you... Mrs. Windu."

Kissing him back, Rey reached up to touch his face. She brought her lips close to his ear, whispering.

"Say my new name again. _Our_ new name."

Finn grinned sappily. "Mrs. Windu." Kissing lovingly again, Rey clutched her husband close. With a tender nip at his earlobe, she murmured low:

"And we won't be the only Windus for much longer." For she had felt the new, little presence in the Force, nesting in her belly, for days. "Finny... I'm pregnant."

Kissing his wife fiercely, Finn wept. He made love to her long and slow on the _Falcon_ that night.

* * *

And now Finn found himself back at where he was now, living the life of a growing Jedi on the restored Windu farm.

Inside the domed mossy hut that was their simple abode, he again heard his wife scream. Body brimmed with tension, he huffed out a breath.

"I can't stand it any longer." Tricking the med droid, he yanked the taser appendage out of the robot with his bare hands and forced his way back into the hut.

Lying on their soaked, saturated bed, hair plastered to her forehead with a thin sheen of sweat, knees spread, was his wife, Rey Windu (nee Palpatine). When her water had broken that morning, and as she had prepared for labor, she had made him get out for his own safety. Finding her husband's handsome face, Rey's lip trembled, her eyes swelling with tears as another contraction sent her doubling over and growling in pain.

"GAHHHH! OH, GODS! Force, please help me..."

Stricken, Finn raced over to his wife.

"Hmmm... Mmm... I'm... Mmm... I'm sorry, Finny," Rey wept, as Finn finished kissing her. "I didn't want to..."

"You didn't," Finn brushed back the bangs from her forehead. "And you won't. You won't do anything but welcome our baby."

"Our baby..." Rey murmured, a dreamy smile coming over her face. Then she winced through another contraction. "Oh, Force, it's really happening..."

The med droid bustled in. "The baby is crowning!" it reported. "Are you ready, Master Jedi?"

Taking her husband's hand in hers and squeezing, Rey nodded firmly. "Yes, I am."

"Then PUSH!"

Arching her back, Rey screamed. Allowing herself to be cracled in Finn's arms - those hands that were so warm, calloused, meaty and strong - she used all the strength she had to bring his baby into the world. He had come back for her, loved her when it felt like no one else did. Had accepted her for who she was, despite her dark origins. Had married her...

And so, with a mighty heave, Rey thanked him for all of it by bestowing Finn with a gift from her womb. The gift of their child.

Once the screaming, squalling baby had been cleaned and placed in Rey's arms, the Jedi cuddled him close as Finn stole an arm around her, kissing her with pride and admiring their newborn son.

The baby had Rey's nose, but Finn's eyes. His skin was the most beautiful shade of light chocolate.

"Oh..." Rey moaned with love. "It's _you_... You're like your daddy, you're _gorgeous_. And I... I made you?" Tears pricked at her eyes, and she kissed his little head. "Cain. Cain Windu."

Finn blinked back tears. Perfect. It was all perfect. His son, his beloved Rey, his life - it was all perfect. A little droid and a jacket had brought them together, a war had helped them fall in love. And now together, as he and Rey embraced and kissed, he and his wife would raise their son to be the first of the new Jedi. All was well.


End file.
